Some
Democrat Party lawmakers claim the volunteer military may become dangerously
stretched thin by events occuring in Iran, North Korea and Syria.
They believe the answer to acquiring more troops is to reinstate the
draft.

Congressman
Charles Rangel says that once he's chairman of the House Ways & Means
Committee he will introduce new legislation to reinstate the military
draft.

"Every
day that the military option is on the table, as declared by the President
in his State of the Union address, in Iran, North Korea, and Syria,
reinstatement of the military draft is an option that must also be
considered, whether we like it or not," Congressman Rangel said in
a statement.

"If
the military is already having trouble getting the recruits they need,
what can we do to fill the ranks if the war spreads from Iraq to other
countries? We may have no other choice but a draft."

During
the Bush-Kerry battle for the White House, Democrats alleged that
President Bush had a "secret" plan to reinstitute the draft, when
in fact it was certain Democrats such as Rangel who wanted a new military
draft.

Rangel's
new draft bill would mandate military service for men and women between
the ages of 18 and 42. Deferments would be allowed only for completion
of high school up to the age of 20, and for reasons of health, conscience
or religious belief. Recruits not needed by the military in any given
year would be required to perform some national civilian service.

"Our
military is more like a mercenary force than a citizen militia." It
is dominated by men and women who need an economic leg-up. Bonuses
of up to $40,000 and a promise of college tuition look very good to
someone from an economically depressed urban or rural community,"
he said, displaying his contempt for the US military.

Rep.
Rangel and members of the Congressional Black Caucus had complained
that Blacks were being used as "cannon fodder" in the Iraq war, until
they were confronted with the fact that only five percent (5%) of
the troops in Iraq are African-Americans, while 14% of the US population
are black. Rangel backed off from making that allegation when speaking
with whites, yet he continues to use the canard when speaking to black
audiences.

"This
is vintage Charlie Rangel. He's adept at distortion and his proposed
draft isn't meant to improve the military but to create a Vietnam
era military of draftees. Anyone who knows anything about the military
knows that conscription brings about negative results," says former
Marine intelligence officer and NYPD detective Sid Francis, himself
an African-American.

In
addition, most men and women in today's military come from middle-
and upper-middle class families.

Republicans
understand Rangel's motive for calling for a renewed draft. He's opposed
to all military actions undertaken by the Bush Administration and
is a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, but he sees an opportunity to
undermine the military by infusing it with draftees who don't want
to fight. He is also aware that conscription creates civil discord.

"Rangel's
draft is part and parcel of the "class warfare" strategy the Democrat
Party uses to divide the country," says a high-ranking military officer.

Rangel's
critics point out that he has a penchant for making outrageous statements
and if he's asked to reinterate them on television or radio he backs
off from those comments with tepid excuses. For instance, in a speech
in Harlem in New York City, Rangel said that President Bush is "our
Bull Connor" a reference to the southern sheriff who used attack dogs
on civil-rights protesters. Rangel, however, failed to mention that
Sheriff Connor was a Democrat.

let's
take a look at the real Charlie Rangel as evidenced in a little known
story of how a New York City detective knocked the robust politician
on his keister following the utterance of a Rangelism in the 1960s:

Sidney
was one of New York City's first African-American detectives. In fact,
he was so good at policing in the city's toughest neighborhoods, that
he was promoted to the coveted rank of 1st Grade Detective in the
NYPD, the youngest in New York's history. A former Marine -- one of
the first blacks to be accepted into the Marine Corps in 1945 -- Sid
was your consummate police officer. Tough, relentless and proud Sid
tempered his tough street persona with intelligence and a sense of
fairness that won the respect of his superiors, his fellow cops and
the citizens he served. Sid came from a black family of achievement
with one brother becoming a police captain and another serving as
a colonel in the US Army.

Sidney
saw action in Korea at about the same time as Rangel took to the battlefield
with the US Army. While Rangel brags about his military service and
being awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he received, Sid believed
a good marine does the wounding and killing not the other way around.
He openly admired General George Patton and Sid repeatedly viewed
the motion picture "Patton" in which, during the opening monologue
by George C. Scott portraying General Patton, he says, "No one wins
a war by dying for his country. You win a war by making the other
poor son-of-a-bitch die for his country." Sid was a blood and guts
Marine and a blood and guts cop. I know. I partnered with him during
his later years.

While
still a young detective, Sidney arrested a black man who was dealing
drugs on streets and schoolyards of Harlem. The drug dealer sold heroin
to black youngsters who were being told over and over again since
they were knee high that their lives were hopeless in an America that
at best cared little for them, at worst wanted them in prison or dead.
They were indoctrinated with this rhetoric by the likes of Charlie
Rangel, white liberals and their echo chamber, the mainstream news
media. Detective Sid had little compassion for a man who sold drugs
to black kids.

At
the time, Charlie Rangel was an up-and-coming political hack in the
local Democrat Club and a lawyer more adept at shooting off his mouth
than arguing his position on jurisprudence. Rangel ended up representing
the drug-pushing punk -- whose parents, by the way, were financially
very well off. The punk's dad was a bigtime contributor to the local
Democrat Party and a supporter of Rangel for congressman which led
to Rangel acting on behalf of an unrepentant drug pusher. Ironically,
Rangel later would become chairman of Congress' Select Committee on
Narcotics Abuse and Control.

So
Charles Rangel, attorney-at-law, visited my partner Sid in order to
get him to back off and perhaps change some of the testimony should
the case go to trial. The young detective told Rangel, "No way.
That skell sells poison to kids." At that point Charlie Rangel,
a known bully in Harlem and northern Manhattan, called Sid an Uncle
Tom and got in his face. The six-foot tall detective hauled off and
bopped him right in his face and Rangel went down.

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After
getting up from the floor and brushing himself off, the opulent future
congressman made some empty threats of retaliation, however Rangel
never filed departmental charges of police brutality. Sid believed
Charlie Rangel knew if he did he would find himself in a jackpot over
witness tampering and he may have had to kiss his political career
goodbye.

Oh,
and by the way, the first time his own draft bill came before congress
in 2004, Congressman Charlie Rangel voted "nay."

Jim Kouri, CPP
is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs
of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington
Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the
1980s. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police
and security officers throughout the country.

He writes for
many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times,
The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared
as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including
Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book
Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and
can be ordered at local bookstores.